Your August Classic Crime Picks

The Detective club is BACK! The exhilarating series of crime fiction with all the whodunit feel of ‘the Golden Age’ of 1920s and 1930s classic crime. The Detective Club present a series of storylines set against glamorous backdrops with their original vintage covers. With a mixed set of tragedies and subtle romances, these books are known for their surprising endings and solutions that the reader won’t see coming! In the words of the master Bernard Capes: ‘a successful crime [is] but a crime that does not appear to be a crime at all.’

This August, our monthly pick is none other than E.C Bentley’s Philip Trent series – three mysterious crime classics. Beginning with Trent’s Last Case, which Agatha Christie called one of the best detective stories ever written, Bentley introduces us to Philip Trent – the all-too-human detective. Trent is intent on finding out the truth, even if the criminal sometimes escapes…

In Bentley’s first of the series, Philip Trent is the all-too-human detective that not only falls in love with the chief suspect but reaches a brilliant conclusion that is totally wrong. When millionaire American financier Sigsbee Manderson is murdered on holiday in England, Trent is sent to investigate. With witty inspector Murth by his side, they both seek to probe deeper into the mystery – whilst a series of twists and turns ensure that the solution is constantly out of reach.

The second novel from this celebrated author introduces Philip Trent’s very own case. James Randolph is murdered early one evening and his body found a few hours later. His safe has been ransacked and discarded wrapping paper litters his bedroom floor. Whether it be by chance or design, Trent was the last person, other than the murderer, to see Randolph alive. When a long-time friend confesses his guilt, Trent, doubting the confession, becomes intent on finding the truth.

Here, Philip Trent, the unshakable artist, journalist and urbane unraveller of highly problematic crimes, appears in twelve tales of misadventure. The crimes he investigates range from fraud and embezzlement to criminal assault and murder yet they all succumb to his adept methods… even if the criminal sometimes escapes. Now is your chance to get lost in the criminal world with Philip Trent in short story form.